


Romance of the Nine Movies

by Siderea



Series: Green Grow the Rushes [4]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghostbusters Fusion, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - How to Train Your Dragon Fusion, Alternate Universe - Inception Fusion, Alternate Universe - Ladyhawke Fusion, Alternate Universe - Now You See Me Fusion, Alternate Universe - St. Trinian's Fusion, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Fusion, Alternate Universe - Stardust Fusion, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-07-26 17:52:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7584130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siderea/pseuds/Siderea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nine movie AUs featuring the characters of Deep Space Nine. No knowledge of the shows should be necessary, although familiarity might deepen your appreciation and knowledge of the DS9 characters is encouraged. Each chapter will have its own summary and tags will update with each chapter.</p><p>Fifth: Stardust<br/>Sixth: Star Wars<br/>Seventh: Now You See Me<br/>Eighth: Ladyhawke<br/>Ninth: Ghostbusters</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Harry Potter: I'm Late, I'm Late, I'm Late

**Author's Note:**

> Part four in my DS9 AU series. For those just reading this story, each work in this series will have a different theme for the AUs involved and might stretch the definition of 'alternate universe'. The idea originated, insofar as I know, in the Teen Wolf fandom, although I have changed a lot of it, as well as going beyond the nine or ten steps that were floating around three or more years ago.
> 
> This one focuses on movie fusions and will eventually contain nine chapters. The title is a play on Romance of the Nine Kingdoms.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jadzia Idris is running late for her N.E.W.T.-level Transfiguration class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover with Harry Potter.  
> Yes, I know, they started as books, but I had more books that I wanted to get through than movies.

Jadzia Idris half-ran up the stairs, dodging younger students from all four Houses, weaving between crowds of black speckled with color, desperate to get to the Transfiguration classroom on time. She’d lost track of time – again – and now she only had a few minutes to make it before Professor Uhura marked her as tardy. She’d managed to avoid that fate so far, but today wasn’t looking so good…

She put on a burst of speed once she hit the third floor landing, darted between a pair of Hufflepuffs, and skidded through the door of the Transfiguration classroom. Maybe about half of the people in the classroom turned to look at her before looking away, clearly uninterested and unimpressed.

Julian, however, grinned widely and waved her over to their usual desks. As Jadzia sank into the chair and dropped her bag down, Julian asked, “What was it this time? Reading, research, or romance?”

Jadzia huffed, perfectly happy to play offended with one of her best friends. “Why must it be one of those three, hmm? Maybe I overslept.”

“You never oversleep,” Nerys countered from behind her, “because I know you’re always in the prefect’s bathroom for an hour every morning doing your ‘beauty routine’.”

Julian snickered while Jadzia turned and pouted at her other best friend. “Why must you betray me like this, Nerys? Julian’s never going to let me hear the end of that.”

“Definitely not,” the other sixth year Ravenclaw prefect agreed with a pleased smile. “It’s so hard to find something you’re not absolutely shameless about, after all.”

“With good reason!” Jadzia asserted. “If you’re not proud of what you’re doing then you shouldn’t be doing it.”

“Remind me again how you’re a Ravenclaw?” Nerys asked with a grin.

Jadzia reached over and tugged on Nerys’s red-and-gold tie. “The same way you’re a Gryffindor instead of a Hufflepuff, of course. The Hat listens to our wishes. Not always, of course, but enough to make a difference.”

“Speaking of wishes, do you think we’ll get through today without someone starting a fight in one of our classes?” Julian asked with a heartfelt sigh. “As much as I appreciate lumping all four Houses worth of students together for N.E.W.T. levels, it does make for some annoying fireworks.” He looked pointedly at Nerys who, to be fair, didn’t usually start anything.

“You have to stop letting Dukat get to you,” Jadzia admonished her friend. “You know he only keeps it up because he’s still getting reactions out of you. And Ben, of course.”

“I feel sorry for Ben,” Nerys said, “having all of his classes with Dukat.” She made a face at the Slytherin’s name.

“I feel worse for Elim, having to live with him,” Julian countered, shuddering.

“Yeah, but Elim can usually hold his own without losing his temper,” Jadzia pointed out. Ben, on the other hand… He was one of her dearest friends, a childhood companion, but, like Nerys, he had a temper. One that Dukat was surprisingly good at provoking, even after seven years.

The door in the front of the classroom slid open and Professor Uhura strode in, cutting off any more response. Not only did she absolutely not tolerate any side conversations during her lectures, all three actually did need to pay close attention. Transfiguration was not an easy subject by any stretch of the imagination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know, an abrupt ending, but that was all that wanted to come out.


	2. St. Trinian's: Fresh Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezri Tigan isn't so sure about this new school. Maybe she should've thought about where she could've ended up before she let herself get expelled from the last one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover with St. Trinian's (2007).
> 
> Yeah, this is late, which is why there's a second chapter going up with it.

Ezri Tigan glanced nervously out of the windows of her mother’s car as they pulled up the drive to St. Trinian’s School for Girls.  The grounds looked… well, rough was the nicest description she could think of.  Forboding also came to mind, what with the shrunken human skulls at the sign out front and the strange furrows through the grass.  And then there were the remnants of a shed.  It looked like it had been blown up.

 

“Mother,” she said, trying not to sound too diffident, “are you sure this school is…all right?”  Words like _safe_ and _sane_ also came to mind, but again, trying not to sound meek.  Her mother didn’t appreciate what she perceived as weakness in anyone.

 

Yanas glanced at her and scoffed.  “Don’t be ridiculous, Ezri.  It’s a perfectly acceptable school, even if Cheltham was obviously a better one.  But since you managed to get yourself expelled from there, there isn’t much to be done about it.  None of the other top tier ladies’ schools will take you with that blemish on your record, so St. Trinian’s it is.”

 

 _Not going to mention the other consideration, Mother?_   Ezri’s lips tightened slightly as she looked back out the window as the large, castle-like school grew larger in her view.  She wouldn’t call her mother stingy, but the chance to save money on Ezri’s education – especially her education at a lesser-tier school – must have been too much to resist.

 

Hopefully Great-Uncle Curzon wasn’t cut from the same cloth as her mother.  She’d met him, she was sure, but it had been too long ago for her to remember much of anything about him.  She thought he had a great, booming laugh that came out easily, but he could also be the relative she knew with the benefit of maturity had been a drunken slob.  Or, perhaps worse, both.

 

Ezri shuddered as Yanas drew the car to a stop but she got out without putting up a fight.  She trailed her mother up the steps and into the main room of St. Trinian’s, only to come to a halt at the sight of what was obviously the receptionist.  The man had earbuds in his ears blasting music loud enough that Ezri could almost make out the actual lyrics, and his eyes were focused down on a large book.

 

Yanas sighed, reached over, and dinged the bell, causing the man to jerk up, pull the earbuds out, and attempt a winning smile at her.  “You’re not from the IRS, are you?  It’s just, if you are, I’m afraid the headmaster is out at the moment and the bursar is busy with some other affairs.”  He shrugged a bit helplessly, as if to say ‘bad luck, right?’  “Sorry and all that, but that’s just what it is today.”

 

“I am _not_ with Inland Revenue,” Yanas hissed.  “I am here to speak to Curzon about enrolling my daughter in his school.  And if he is not here to assist then he will regret it.”

 

“Oh, of course, of course,” the receptionist said, his smile turning more genuine.  “One moment, please, Ma’am.”  He reached over to an intercom and pressed a button.  “Parent here to enroll her daughter, Headmaster,” he chirped into the speaker.

 

A pause, and then a slightly crackly voice replied, “Might as well send the Living Ice Statue in, Julian.  And her lovely daughter, of course.”

 

“Right away, Sir,” Julian replied.  He looked back over at the two of them.  “Right through that door, Mrs. L.I.S. and lovely daughter.”

 

Against her will, Ezri’s lips twitched at the receptionist’s cheerful insult.  Her mother’s lips thinned in displeasure but she turned and stomped into Curzon’s office without another word to the receptionist.  Ezri trailed in her mother’s wake.  Maybe this school wouldn’t be so bad, if the receptionist’s sense of humor was anything to go by.

 

A distant BOOM rocked the building, raining bits of plaster down.  _I really don’t think I want to stay here._


	3. How to Train Your Dragon: Exchange Program

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keiko Ishikawa's family has been in charge of dragon hatchlings for as long as there have been dragons living among her people. Sometimes that means feeding and playing with dragons that could accidentally injure or kill a human, and sometimes that means overseeing prospective riders pick their partners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover with Disney/Pixar's How to Train Your Dragon.

The screaming of the hatchlings woke Keiko Ishikawa from her sleep, as always during the spring.  _Feed me_ , they cried, over and over, insistent in their demands.  She rolled out of bed, grabbed the blood-stained apron, tied it around her waist, and headed for the nursery.

 

Adult dragons flew in, deposited slaughtered beasts, and flew out again, making room for more offerings while getting out of the way of their ravenous offspring.  Sword in hand, Keiko moved amongst the hatchlings, chopping their food into portions, ensuring that none of the young dragons went hungry.  She dodged a hiccup of flame from a Monstrous Nightmare, shoved the left head of a Hideous Zippleback out of the way of its right head, and pulled a baby Night Fury back from choking on a fish bigger than it was.

 

It amazed her some days just how small dragons started life.  And that was without getting into just how much they could eat!  The baby Night Fury could eventually grow to be the size of a small house while a Bewilderbeast could become large enough to be mistaken for a small island!

 

On the balcony above the nursery, dragon riders called back and forth to each other and to their dragons, exhorting the feeding of the younglings and boasting over whose dragon brought back a bigger meal.  The partners of parent dragons took a proprietary interest in the children of their dragons, understandably and would encourage those babies to eat more, grow faster, and all of that.

 

Keiko ignored the commotion, as she always did.  Her job was to take care of the dragons, not the riders, and she thanked the gods almost every day for that distinction.  Dragons were easy to love, especially when they were still in the nursery, adorable and bumbling, happy to share their affection with anyone and everyone who came into their lives.  Riders, on the other hand, ran the gamut of humans, although Chief Kirk tried his level best to make sure that no one who would mistreat a dragon ended up partnered to one.

 

That didn’t weed out the stupid, the temperamental, the arrogant, or any of the other myriad faults that could be found in mankind, and Keiko had seen them all pass across the nursery, searching for _their_ dragon.  Her family had been in charge of tending to the babies for generations now, ever since her great-great-great-grandmother Hoshi had built the nursery and provided a place for young dragons to grow together so that they would learn to get along from hatching.  Even before she had been old enough to help with the feeding she had been tending to the grooming, carefully supervised until her family trusted her to be aware of the dangers as well as well as the rewards that came with tending to dragons.  And in all those years, she had seen humans of every stripe seek to bond with a dragon and become a rider.

 

She could understand the allure, knew exactly what drove so many disparate people to become dragon riders, but it wasn’t for her.  Choose only one?  Never!  No, she would tend to all of the baby dragons in her village and happily.

 

The door to the rest of the village opened, and Chief Kirk walked in, several strangers following.  “Keiko!  How are the dragons this morning?”

 

“Energetic as always,” Keiko smiled back.  The chief had an easy smile and an easy air about him.  Not that anyone would forget he was the tribe’s chief.  But he was a friendly man who cared about everyone in the village, human and dragon and even silly sheep.

 

“Good!  We’ve got some newbies here looking for dragon partners, and I wouldn’t want them to think our dragons are quiet little mice, especially when they’ve come all the way from Berk.”

 

Berk!  The original village!  The first ones to realize that dragons could be friends instead of pests to kill!  Keiko’s heart soared into her throat.  She loved _her_ dragons, but she wanted to one day go and visit Berk, to see where everything had begun.  But why were people from Berk coming here to find draconic partners?

 

The chief must have seen her confusion.  “We’re trying an… well, think of it as an exchange program.  Several of our youngsters have gone to Berk to find draconic partners and live for a while and several of their youngsters have come here to do the same.  If it works, well, maybe we’ll keep it up.”

 

It was certainly a change.  Maybe not a bad one.  Everyone in the village knew each other, after all, and that sometimes made finding a partner difficult.  But shifting people around could help with that.  Maybe there would even be someone in this group she would find interesting.  That would certainly get her mother off her back about finding a husband.  “Well, Chief, if you or they need any help, I’m here.”

 

“I know, Keiko, and I appreciate it.  That’s why I’m glad we coincided with you.”  Chief Kirk squeezed her shoulder and then moved into the horde of dragons.  Raising his voice, he addressed the Berkites.  “All right, folks, these are our young dragons.  Not all of them are old enough to be partnered up yet, but if you can’t tell which ones those are then I or Keiko over there will be happy to tell you.”  He looked around at them all.  “Go on, then.  Find your partner.”

 

Keiko watched the small group disperse amongst the dragons.  She thought she had counted five.  _I wonder which five we gave them?  Hopefully Weyoun was one of the ones to go._   Not her problem.

 

She kept a careful eye on the quintet as she walked amongst her charges, sorting out squabbles, tending to the minor injuries dragons acquired during their roughhousing, and even putting out literal fires.  None of the dragon rider candidates came near her, which suited her just fine.  Even if they were the best of their tribe – which she had no guarantee of – they were still potentially people she didn’t want to deal with.  And they would be taking five of her dragons from her.

 

Not forever, of course.  All of the older dragons here still remembered her, after all.  But she wouldn’t be the one tending to them anymore, not once the riders made their choices.

 

To her horror, she found herself sniffling again.  She always seemed to do this on Selection Days, no matter how often she’d gone through it.  At least she didn’t throw temper tantrums over losing them the way she had as a babe.  Scant comfort.

 

Keiko picked up and hugged the village’s only baby Night Fury, grateful that she, at least, was still too young to be chosen by one of the riders.  She buried her face in the black scales, trying to hide the brief trickle of tears.

 

“Uh, Miss Keiko?  I’m sorry to interrupt, but I had a question about this Deadly Nadder.”

 

Keiko hastily schooled her features and looked up at the curly-haired teen standing in front of her.  By his side stood the oldest of the Nadders still in the nursery, a friendly dragon that had a vicious temper when she thought one of the other dragons was bullying her friends.  “She’s a good choice,” Keiko said.  The Nadders tended to be favorites with the riders, so she wasn’t too surprised that this one had been sought out.

 

“Well, she seems sweet-tempered enough,” the rider agreed, “and I’ll welcome her abilities rightly.  But it’s good to get a measure of her explosiveness, if she’s got any of that.”  He looked at her expectantly.

 

“She’s defensive of her friends,” Keiko said, “and she goes after anyone she thinks is a bully.  But mostly she’s pretty even-keeled.”

 

The rider nodded thoughtfully.  “That’s good to know.  About the bullying thing.”  He patted the Nadder on the side of her neck.  “You’d’a been right useful back in Berk when I was a wee lad, wouldn’t you just.”  Abruptly he blushed and held out a hand.  “Right, sorry.  I’m Miles O’Brien.”

 

Keiko smiled at him, shook his hand.  “Keiko Ishikawa.”  After a pause, she asked, “What are you going to name her?”  She never let herself name the babies.  Not until she was sure they weren’t going to be chosen by a rider, and then only because they needed names for when they got into mischief.  All dragons invariably got into mischief, regardless of age and size.

 

“I’m thinking Molly,” Miles said, with a fond smile for his dragon.

 

“Hello, Molly,” Keiko told the dragon she had watched grow up.

 

As she watched Miles lead Molly over to Chief Kirk, she couldn’t help but think that maybe this exchange thing would work out all right after all.  _I guess I’ll have to let myself get pulled back into village affairs.  He really does have a nice smile._


	4. Inception: Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparing for a job goes easier with friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover with Inception.
> 
> Sorry this one's late; it's been a rough couple of days.

Miles O’Brien twirled a pencil in one hand as he stared down thoughtfully at the labyrinth he’d just finished designing.  It looked all right.  Not his best work, but a good starting point.  He’d have to run someone through it in dreams before he knew whether it was any good or not, but they had time.  The job wasn’t scheduled to actually take place for another two weeks.  That was ample time, compared to some of the jobs their team had done.

 

He glanced over at the glass walls separating Julian’s chemistry lab from the rest of the teams’ offices.  The young man was bent over a beaker, lab glasses firmly in place, stained lab coat hanging huge on his lanky frame.  A glance around the rest of the offices showed Jadzia bent over a sketch pad and no sign of Kasidy or Kira.

 

Well that certainly limited his choices.

 

Miles stood up and walked towards her desk.  “Jadzia?  Are you busy?”

 

“Hm?”  She looked up, clearly still distracted.  “Sorry, Miles, what was that?”

 

“I need someone to test the labyrinth,” he said.  “It’s not ready, not yet, but I need to see someone react to it before I know what needs fixing.”

 

“Oh.”  She glanced back down at her sketchpad thoughtfully, then looked back up at him.  “I can help, but only if I can test my latest forgery at the same time.”

 

“Of course,” Miles agreed.

 

Jadzia took one last look at her sketchpad and then flipped it closed.  Together, they walked over to the set-up and settled in.  Miles set up the kick, just in case.  “Ten minutes?” he asked Jadzia.

 

“Sounds good to me.”

 

Miles closed his eyes –

 

And opened them a moment later to the labyrinth.  So far, so good.  He turned to look for Jadzia and almost stumbled when he saw the form she’d taken.  “ _Ziyal?_ ” he hissed, appalled.

 

“Best way to manipulate Dukat,” she said with a shrug.  Even her voice came out sounding like Ziyal’s.  She clapped her hands together and looked around.  “Shall we do this thing?”


	5. Stardust: Over the Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Julian of Stormhold and his friend Ezri Dax consider the Wall, left alone since the time of King Tristan, someone crosses it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Stardust.  
> Yes I know it started life as a book, but I was first introduced to it as a film. As such, I kept the film's ending rather than the book's as the canon background for this piece.

The Wall stretched before him, unending, or so it seemed.  There was just the one little gap, right there, directly across the field from where he sat.  According to legend, it led to a world without magic.

 

More than legend, really.  One of his ancestors had been a man from that side of the Wall and his great-great-great-grandfather had been raised there before coming over to this side to find a fallen star.  That was a tale Prince Julian of Stormhold never tired of hearing.

 

“There you are, Julian!”

 

He looked up as Ezri Dax flopped down next to him.  One of his best friends and his constant traveling companion.  Together they had caught lightning on Ben’s ship, defeated a coven of witches, danced for the Great King Oberon, and so much else besides.  But they had never gone over the Wall.

 

Ezri couldn’t.  Not with the Dax symbiote inside of her, and removing Dax now would kill her as surely as Dax dying inside of her would.  If they had met before Ezri and Dax merged, perhaps the pair would have crossed the Wall.  These days, it was out of the question.  But that didn’t stop Julian from wondering what it would be like to see the world without magic.  He wouldn’t want to live there, of course.  But a visit, just to say he’d done it, would be nice.

 

“Still thinking about it?” Ezri asked with a knowing smile.

 

“Always,” Julian admitted.

 

“I can’t say that I blame you,” Ezri said.  “It would be interesting to see how they live over there.  Not that I’ve got a death wish or something like that!  But I can certainly understand the appeal.  Especially since it must have changed so much since the time of King Tristan.  I look at how far we’ve come on this side and I can only imagine how much _they’ve_ changed.”

 

“Not enough to make it permissible to cross the Wall,” Julian pointed out.

 

“Well, to cross the Wall, you have to be one of two things,” Ezri said slowly.  “You have to believe in magic or you have to be desperate.  Or both, of course.  Maybe they don’t believe in magic over there.”

 

“My family’s stories said that belief was starting to die out when Grandfather Tristan crossed,” Julian agreed.  “Still…”

 

“Yeah,” Ezri said, her tone just as wistful as his.  “Still.”  She shook herself and looked away from the wall, turning expectant eyes to him.  “So, shall we head back to the city?  The _Defiant_ should be landing soon, and Ben promised to let me handle one of the jars again.”

 

“That’s because you’re better at it than half his regular crew,” Julian said with a grin as he stood up, offering Ezri a hand that she accepted with a return smile.  “I just hope he doesn’t renege on his promise to let me try steering the ship through one of the storms.”

 

“He’s been letting you practice in decent weather often enough that you’ve gotten good at it,” Ezri said, “and he has to let you try something more demanding eventually.  But if you make me screw up and break my record at lightning catching, you’ll regret it!”  She scowled fiercely at him.

 

Julian held up his hands as if to ward off a physical attack.  “Don’t worry, don’t worry,” he chuckled.  “I promise to ensure that your record remains intact.”  Movement by the Wall caught his eye and he turned back to face it.

 

“Julian?” Ezri asked.

 

“I thought I saw something by the Wall.”  The pair scanned the open field and the gap in the Wall – there!

 

Someone crawled through the grass on their side of the Wall, away from the gap, towards where the two of them stood.  The person was barely visible, dressed in some sort of camouflage, but they created enough of a disturbance in the otherwise still field to draw Julian and Ezri’s attention.

 

“I think he crossed from the other side,” Juliam murmured to Ezri, keeping his voice low.  The pair of them stood in the shadows of the trees, so it was possible the person hadn’t seen them.  With the wind blowing away from the Wall, the person probably hadn’t heard them, at least.

 

“Not much of a choice otherwise given the way you’ve been staring at the Wall for the past thirty minutes or so,” Ezri muttered back.  Her hands rested on the twin short swords at her hips, ready to draw in an instant.

 

“Let’s see what he wants,” Julian said, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.  Not that there was a big chance Ezri wouldn’t have known how he felt even without him giving it away.  That was the downside of having a close friend.  They knew your insecurities, your dreams, your motivations – sometimes even better than you did.

 

Ezri sighed but didn’t draw her swords.  “We’ll do it your way first.  But, Julian.  If he makes a wrong move, I’m going to draw my swords and then someone’s likely to get hurt.”

 

“Deal,” Julian said, knowing it was the best he would get.  Ezri was protective of her friends.  It was a Dax trait; Jadzia and Curzon were the exact same way, and he was sure the others were, too, even though he hadn’t met them.

 

They waited for the person to crawl across the field.  No one else appeared from the other side of the Wall, but the person still crawled, as if trying not to be seen.  Was he running from something?  Or did he fear those on this side of the Wall would prove hostile, or would make him turn back?  Excitement bubbled within him, barely containable.

 

It took a lifetime for the person to crawl to the shadow of the trees.  He pushed himself up, revealing a black-haired man wearing dark clothes in a cut that was in style more than a hundred years ago.  Around the time Great-great-great Grandpa Tristan ruled.  Did they still dress like that over there?

 

The man started to take a step forward than froze.  He glanced around, and his blue gaze landed on Julian and Ezri.  He stepped back and his hands dropped to his sides.  From the strange way they were cocked, Julian suspected that he had pulled out some kind of hidden weapon.  Or was prepared to do so.

 

Looked like it was up to him.  “Hello,” Julian said with a sunny smile, trusting Ezri to keep a close eye on the man.  “Welcome to Beyond the Wall.  Or at least, I assume that’s what you still call it on your side.”

 

“What do you call it?” the man asked.  He had a light voice, melodious, but there was an underlying tension thrumming through it.

 

“Stormhold,” Julian replied.  “A large country, if I do say so myself.  Although this part is near to the Faerie Market which holds to its own laws.”

 

“The Faerie Market,” the man murmured, lingering over the syllables.  His sharp gaze took in first Julian and then Ezri in turn, before he returned his attention to Julian.  “How much to hire you two as guides?”

 

“For how long?” Julian asked.  Ezri kicked him in the shin and he winced, turned, mouthed ‘what’ at her.  ‘Ben’ she mouthed back, and he winced.  They were going to be late if they didn’t hurry, and Ben wouldn’t hesitate to make good on his threat to leave without them, prince or not, good friend of Ezri’s family or not.

 

“It appears that you have somewhere else to be,” the man said.

 

“We do,” Julian admitted.  _But he came from over the Wall!  I want to know!_   A thought occurred to him.  “You’ve crossed the Wall, so clearly you don’t lack a sense of adventure.”

 

“What are you doing?” Ezri hissed.

 

Julian ignored her.  “How about instead of you hiring us, we hire you?  You come along with us and you’ll get to see what there is to see on this side of the Wall.  We’ll do our best to keep you safe and alive – not at the risk of our own lives, but other than that we’ll see to it that you stay alive and generally in one piece.  Fair trade?”  _Please, please, please.  Come along and let me pick your brain about your side of the Wall._

 

The man pursed his lips slightly, thoughts swirling behind his blue eyes.  Finally, he shifted his hands.  Probably putting his weapons away.  “Fair trade,” he said, extending a hand.

 

Julian shook his hand with a smile.  “I’m Julian, and this is Ezri Dax.”

 

“Garak,” the man said, offering his hand to Ezri.  She sighed but shook it without Julian having to prompt her.  “Where are you taking me first?”

 

“To the Faerie Market,” Julian said.  “We’re meeting a friend there, and I don’t think he’ll complain too much about having another set of hands to help with the _Defiant._ ”  As they started into the woods, towards the path that led to the Faerie Market, he realized that he’d overlooked a potential problem.  He glanced back at Garak.  “I do hope you’re not afraid of heights.”


	6. Star Wars: Mediator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jedi Knight Benjamin Sisko is not looking forward to negotiating the peace talks between Bajor and the Cardassian Empire because it means dealing with Legate Dukat. Too bad no one told him about the Empire's little revolution while he was en route.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover with the Star Wars franchise.

Jedi Knight Benjamin Sisko folded his arms across his chest and tried not to glare out the window of the diplomatic ship.  He had been to Cardassia Prime only once, and that as a padawan, but that once had been enough to convince him that he had no desire to ever again set foot on the planet.  Unfortunately, his relationship with Bajor made him one of the more acceptable diplomats from their viewpoint.  He had thought that would rule him out from Cardassia Prime’s list of acceptable mediators, but apparently not.

 

_Somehow, someway, this is probably Legate Dukat’s fault._

 

It was childish and very un-Jedi-like to blame someone else for his problems, but that didn’t make it any less likely that Dukat was behind Cardassia’s acceptance of his presence.

 

“Jedi?”

 

Ben turned and offered Kai Kira Nerys of Bajor a smile.  It had taken long years of friendship, but at last she had finally stopped referring to him as Emissary.  Only to pick up a different title for him.  One of these days he would get her to call him Ben, even if only in private.  “Nerys.  Are you ready?”

 

“I’m ready,” Nerys said, her lips thinning, her expression taking on its usual stubborn cast.  “Let’s just hope the Cardassians are finally ready to talk peace.  Prophets know they haven’t been all that interested before now.”

 

“That _is_ the point of my being here,” Ben reminded her.

 

“Well, yes, but you know Legate Dukat as well as I do,” Nerys said.

 

Ben matched her grimace of distaste.  He was most certainly _not_ looking forward to dealing with Dukat.  Anyone else would be preferable.  Literally any other Cardassian –

 

“Jedi Knight, Kai, I apologize for disturbing you but we are receiving contact from Cardassia City,” Captain Worf said via the intercoms.  “We have permission to dock but their chief diplomat for the talks is requesting to speak with the two of you.”

 

“Of course, Captain.  Please patch it through,” Ben said.  He glanced at Nerys.  “Ready or not, it’s show time.”

 

She sighed and adjusted her robes of state.  “I really hope this works.”

 

The view of Cardassia was replaced by the image of a familiar Cardassian.  Ben sucked in a breath.  Next to him, Nerys choked.

 

_Well, at least it’s not Dukat._   The thought brought a thin smile to Ben’s face which he quickly wiped away.

 

“Jedi Knight Sisko, Kai Kira, it gives me great pleasure to be the first to welcome you to Cardassia Prime,” Elim Garak, one-time – and possibly current – agent of the Obsidian Order.  “I do hope that the three of us will together manage to see these peace talks through to a satisfactory conclusion.”  He smiled benevolently at them.

 

Nerys ground her teeth.  Ben stepped in before she could spit something undiplomatic at the man.  “Thank you, ah… what _is_ your title these days, Agent Garak?”  He put a slight stress on the title, hoping to throw the Cardassian at least a little bit off stride.  It was a small hope.  He knew the man too well to expect anything like that to affect to him.

 

Garak smiled again.  “Oh, I’m not an agent anymore, Knight Sisko.  These days I’m just the Minister of Foreign Relations.”

 

_And Jedi Master Spock likes to dance around the halls with a beaming smile on his face._   “Of course, Minister,” he said blandly, relying on Jedi meditation tricks to keep his real thoughts from his face.  “We also, of course, hope that the talks lead to lasting peace between Bajor and the Cardassian Empire.”

 

“Yes, Minister,” Nerys said, carefully, clearly at least trying to keep her distrust, suspicion, and general hostility in check.  “I am glad to see Cardassia willing to sit down at the negotiating table and I, too, am hopeful that we’ll be able to build something together.”

 

Ben inwardly sighed in relief.  That could have gone a lot worse.  It probably would have, if they’d simply run into Garak planetside and been shocked by his presence at the negotiating table.  At least this way they knew what to expect when they got down there.  Even if both of them had reacted a bit poorly to his face.  Hopefully Garak would let that lie.

 

“I’m so pleased to hear that,” Garak said with another of his smiles.  “I’m looking forward to seeing both of you in a few hours.  Jedi Knight, Kai.”

 

“Minister,” Ben said, nodding back.  Garak’s image disappeared, replaced by the view of Cardassia, looming even larger as the _Defiant_ headed towards the space port.  He let out a long sigh before turning to face Nerys.

 

Her face had gone a bit red and her hands clenched and unclenched.  “How, _how_ does that man keep on ending up…. Arrrrgh!”  Her body shook with rage.  Abruptly she stilled, drew in a deep breath, and smiled.  “I wonder how surprised he’ll be when Odo walks off the ship with us.”

 

Ben shook his head.  “Knowing him, he won’t be surprised at all.”

 

“I can hope,” Nerys said.  “I’m going to go meditate for a bit.  I just don’t understand how we ended up dealing with _Garak_ instead of Dukat.”

 

“I might have made what hindsight is telling me a hasty wish to the Force,” Ben admitted.  At Nerys’s questioning look, he explained, “I asked to deal with anyone except Dukat.”

 

Nerys groaned.  “Next time, Jedi, I hope you keep wishes like that to yourself.”

 

“Believe me, I plan to,” Ben assured her.  Still, it was better to deal with Garak than Dukat.  Dukat would pontificate for hours and give them nothing.  Garak, at least, could be reasonable.  He had very specific concerns, most of which boiled down to what he thought was best for Cardassia.  Not that he intended to remind Nerys of all that right now.  For one thing, he couldn’t do that and remain neutral.  He was already on shaky ground there because of his long-term relationship with Bajor.  But he suspected Odo would remember that and be able to point that out to Nerys.

 

_This might actually work.  Force, please let it work.  I don’t want Bajor to have to go back to war._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there is a name for either the Republic's Intelligence Services, new or old, or the Empire's, then I couldn't find it. So I just used Obsidian Order because it sounds suitably ominous (and familiar).


	7. Now You See Me: The Final Trick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During preparations for their final heist/show, two of the Four Horsemen revisit old issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with the movie Now You See Me. Knowledge of that film is probably required to get this chapter, sorry.
> 
> Also, sorry this is late. The last week and a bit have been just awful between one thing and another with not a lot of writing getting done. Well, not a lot of writing for this. So yay two chapters at once.

Julian fiddled with the video camera, feeling unaccountably nervous.  Another pair of hands, shorter and thicker but no less dexterous, landed over his.

 

“Your hands are shaking, my dear,” Elim Garak said as he directed Julian’s positioning of the lens.

 

“Forgive me for being a little excited about the biggest show any of us have ever performed,” Julian snapped back, unable to keep the snippiness entirely out of his voice, as usual when dealing with his former ‘partner’.  Not that it had ever been much of a partnership.  Garak had ordered and Julian had obeyed.  He was a lot happier working on his own.

 

Or so he had thought, before teaming up with the others for this audition.

 

“Don’t think of it as a show,” Garak ordered.  It might have sounded benign to other people, but Julian had worked with the man for years before making his own name as a magician.  He recognized the tone of Garak giving orders.  “Think of it as a trick.  Or an audition.  You’re quite good at both of those.”

 

Julian shuddered slightly at the tension in Garak’s tone.  _Okay, that’s enough._   He pulled out of the other man’s hold.  “If you’ll excuse me, _Obsidian_ , I have some other preparations to make.”  He strode back towards the other room, the one with the rest of their tools.  Garak’s gaze was a palpable weight the whole way there.

 

“Not a word,” he warned Jadzia when he saw the mesmerist’s smirk.  If she hadn’t complained about sexual tension then he wouldn’t have started reading into Garak’s behavior and he’d be a lot happier.

 

“You really should do something before all of us explode from the UST,” she said.  “I mean, even Jake noticed without me having to point it out to him.”

 

Fantastic.  It was getting to the point of no return if even their young sleight-of-hand expert had noticed.  Julian ran a hand through his hair, tugging lightly on the ends of it.  “The man hasn’t changed from when I was his assistant, Jadzia.  He’s still pig-headed, arrogant, condescending, and convinced that he’s always right.”

 

“Yeah, but he’s got good points, too,” Jadzia said.  “Just… think about it, Julian.  If this goes wrong, we all end up in jail for the rest of our lives as Agents Odo and Kira gloat at us.  And if it goes right, we are inducted into The Eye, an elite group, and probably have to live with each other for the rest of our lives as part of a tiny secret society.”

 

Julian made a face at her but didn’t protest.  She was right, after all.  After tonight, everything would change.  “I’ll think about it,” he said at last.  “Now can we please focus on tonight?”

 

“Of course, Julian,” Jadzia said with a gentle smile.  “There’s a lot to do and not a lot of time left.  Even if our benefactor was kind enough to lay everything out for us.”


	8. Ladyhawke: One Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Benjamin Sisko and Kasidy Yates survive one more day under the curse that keeps them together but apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Ladyhawke.
> 
> There are TWO chapters up today, so make sure you don't miss chapter seven.

Ben finished gutting the rabbit and paused, looking around for Kasidy.  A soft cry drew his attention to the black-feathered hawk crouched nearby.  He tossed the entrails to her and tried not to watch the way she attacked them.  It was different in their animal forms than when they were allowed to be human, but right now, as a human, it turned his stomach to see the hawk gulping down the offal and to know that it was _Kasidy_.  And never mind that he had done the exact same thing some nights, trapped as the wolf.

 

He brought the rest of the rabbit over to the fire and spitted it.  A few gathered herbs tossed over it would make it tastier, if not anywhere near the level of what he had been able to do back when he had regular access to a kitchen.  While he waited for the rabbit to cook, Kasidy finished with her meal and hopped over to him.

 

Ben reached down and ran gentle fingers over her feathers.  They had been on the run for so long now.  “Don’t worry,” Ben whispered to his love.  “I still haven’t given up hope.”  Kasidy turned her head and gently nipped his fingers with her sharp beak, a reminder that she, too, continued to hunt for a way to break the curse.

 

Ben pulled the rabbit off the fire and ate, offering occasional pieces to Kasidy.  That night, as the wolf, he might try and find some more game.  Or Kasidy, as a human, might go hunting.  Either way, they would have to find more food for the next day.  Like always.

 

Survival wasn’t difficult when both were able hunters in both of their forms, but it did tend to keep them too busy to devote much time to breaking the curse that kept them like this.  One day, they would figure something out.  Or find enough allies to kill Dukat and hope that did the trick.

 

A familiar prickle had Ben glancing over at the sky.  Sunset.  He sighed, but prepared himself.  Glancing back at Kasidy, he felt the change take them.  He became wolf as she became human, their eyes watching each other throughout the entire change.

 

Ben shook his fur out, adjusting once again to the four-footed posture of the wolf.  Kasidy reached over, petted him for a moment, and then just wrapped her arms around his neck.  “It’ll be okay, Ben,” she promised.  “Maybe not today, but one day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very blah and not a lot happening, but I don't have a lot of movies that I wanted to transfer over to this setting and, while this was one, it's just... blah.


	9. Ghostbusters: New G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's great having a scientist on the team, really it is, especially when she comes up with useful items. But. Explosions at home aren't actually all that fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Ghostbusters.

“No, listen,” Jadzia said, grinning maniacally.  Julian took an immediate step backwards, out of the blast range, gratified to see Nerys doing the exact same thing.  Miles, the fool, took a step forward to get a better look at whatever device Jadzia had whipped up.  Clearly he hadn’t learned from the last few explosions.

 

Their resident mad scientist happily whipped the tarp off the irregularly-shaped bumps on the table, revealing what could have been some kind of oversized gun straight out of a futuristic video game.  The barrel was a good thirty centimeters across and the back of the not-quite-machine-gun looked like it was meant to be braced across the entire shoulder.  There was a hole there at the back, too, presumably for the cable that could plug into the power packs Miles had created back when they first started dealing with New York’s ghost problem.

 

Jadzia hefted the gun, braced the end of it against her shoulder – it barely fit, Julian noticed, which meant he would also have problems keeping it up and in one place – and turned to aim it down the range.  She pulled the trigger with a gleeful smile and a ball of plasma rocketed into the target.

 

That hadn’t been in doubt, of course, so Julian had kept his eyes on Jadzia, watching the way she winced with the gun’s kickback, the way the brace slid and buckled against her shoulder and upper chest.

 

Miles’s impressed whistle had him turning to look down the range.  His eyes widened.  The target had been obliterated.

 

“There are four other settings,” Jadzia said proudly into the stunned silence.  “Net, Spikes, Rapid-Fire, and This-Means-Business.  That last one needs time to charge, of course, but nothing that can’t be managed if you’ve got bait, distractions, or back up.”  She lowered the gun back down to the table and attempted to rub surreptitiously at her shoulder.

 

“You’re leaving out the ridiculous recoil,” Julian chided, just so she wouldn’t think she’d gotten away with it.  “Nerys can probably use this one with no problem, same for Miles, but you and I wouldn’t be able to manage more than one shot with that sort of kickback.”

 

“So it’s not for everyone,” Jadzia said with a one-shouldered shrug and another one of her twinkling smiles.  “It still works.”

 

“And it didn’t explode after you fired it,” Nerys said, clearly impressed.  “This might just work out after all.”

 

“Weeeell,” Jadzia drew out the word, and Julian braced himself.  “I can’t guarantee that it won’t explode after you use the This-Means-Business setting.”

 

“So don’t use Last-Resort unless we have another ghostpocalypse on our hands, got it,” Julian said with a nod.

 

“For the last time, Julian, we aren’t calling it ghostpocalypse,” Miles sputtered.

 

“Well, what would _you_ call it?  Invasion of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?  That’s much too long,” Julian scoffed, waving a hand dismissively.  “Ghostpocalpyse is much better.  Shorter, gets the point across, and can be used in multiple situations.”

 

“We’re not calling it ghostpocalypse,” Nerys said, pointing a finger at him.  She turned back to Jadzia.  “All right, Jadzia.  Let me put this thing through its paces – what are we calling it, anyways?”

 

Jadzia smiled, the same way she did before she made another reference or pun that had Miles and Nerys groaning and Julian chuckling in delight.  “I was thinking My Little Friend.”

 

Even Julian groaned at that one.

 

“Okay, okay,” Jadzia said.  “Casper-Buster?  Bye Bye Ghostie?  Vera?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it folks. See you in a week or two (or more) with the next installment.


End file.
